1589 - Menzel, Adolph von. Bust portrait of the poet Molière. Lithograph on heavy paper. Signed and dated in the stone. 1850. Image dimensions: 21.2 x 17.5 cm. Sheet dimensions: 36 x 27.3 cm.

Menzel, Adolph von. Bust portrait of the poet Molière. Lithograph on heavy paper. Signed and dated in the stone. 1850. Image dimensions: 21.2 x 17.5 cm. Sheet dimensions: 36 x 27.3 cm. Bock 399/I. — One of Menzel’s lithographs created with brush and scraper, in the first state, prior to any text or numbering. In the second state, used as sheet 1 of the series “Experiments on Stone with Brush and Scraper” (published in 1851 by Carl Meder, Berlin). - Verso with handwritten notes in pencil. - The sheet is mounted in spots along the left margin; two corners show traces of old mounting; overall, it has fingerprints and is slightly browned; the right corners show crease marks. - Also included: The same artist. Hamlet and Polonius. Etching on handmade paper. Monogrammed and inscribed on the plate. 1843/47. Image dimensions: 21.5 x 16 cm. Sheet dimensions: 24.5 x 20.5 cm.—Bock 1150/I. - Inscription on the upper margin (mirror-inverted): “Do you see that cloud there / almost in the shape of a camel?” - The sheet is mounted on a backing in the upper corners, likely trimmed, with more pronounced browning and foxing. - Provenance: Walter Bauer Collection, Fulda; the “Molière” formerly in the Ginsberg Collection, Berlin; the “Hamlet” formerly in the Carl Heumann Collection, Chemnitz.